Back balances field and fatherhood

Thomas Tate has rushed for 304 yards in three games
for Bridgewater despite certainly having other things on his
mind.
Bridgewaterphotos.com

Many college students find it challenging to balance classroom
work with homework, athletics and maybe even a part-time job.

But think about adding a child to the equation. Or, to be more
accurate, add three.

That’s where 26-year-old Thomas “Teley”
Tate’s life is. The Bridgewater tailback is a senior and
juggling his schooling with taking care of three girls.

“It’s pretty hard,” said Tate, who
acknowledged that the financial end of school and family can also
be difficult. “Last year, wasn’t too bad, but this year
is a little bit harder because I’m a senior. It’s a lot
more reading with my major. But I have a lot of help at
home.”

Tate is from Staunton, Va., a town a little more than 20 miles
from the Bridgewater campus. He said he has a support cast of his
mom, dad and grandparents who help raise the three girls, two of
whom are Tate’s biological daughters.

The man behind the No. 20 jersey hasn’t always been this
close to home. When he began looking at colleges, his first plan
was to go to Liberty University in Lynchburg. But he said that
didn’t work out. He then attempted to enroll at Bridgewater
but wasn’t accepted. Tate spent two seasons at Shenandoah,
where he played football and got the necessary credits – and
improved his grades – to transfer to Bridgewater and be
closer to his extended family.

Since joining the Eagles, Tate has been explosive on the field.
He is the seventh player in school history to reach 1,000 yards
rushing, and he reached that mark in fewer carries than anyone else
had ever done – 68 fewer carries, in fact. This year, he has
304 yards in just three games and is averaging 4.8 yards per
carry.

But his truest success might be from how well he handles his
academics, athletics and parenthood. The two oldest girls he takes
care of are 5 and 7 years old. And just this summer, he welcomed a
new daughter to the family.

And Tate said they all always comes out on Saturdays to see him
play.

“I’ve never been around a guy who has to balance as
much to be successful as Teley does,” coach Mike Clark said
in Bridgewater’s game-day program. “He’s 18 hours
short of graduation and him finishing his degree at Bridgewater,
with all he’s had to overcome, would be one of the great
accomplishments that I’ve seen.”

Tate was 21 when the 5-year-old, his oldest biological child,
arrived. He was working at the Hershey Chocolate plant in Stuarts
Draft, Va., and had dated his child’s mother, whose family is
also from the area, since just out of high school. That fall, he
began at Shenandoah.

Thomas Tate and the three kids.
Bridgewater athletics photo

Nowadays, Tate is on a work-study program with the athletic
department and tries to steal a few moments for himself here and
there. But mostly, it’s all eyes on his family.

“Usually when I get home, I don’t really have any
time to myself,” Tate said. “I have to help [the kids]
with their homework or get dinner ready. Then I got to do my own
homework. Plus, now with the baby, I got to make sure she gets
everything she needs. And I have to make sure I give her mom a
break.”

His homework might be hard, but helping the girls with theirs
isn’t.

“Homework is kind of fun with them because the stuff is so
easy,” he said with a laugh. “I remember when I was a
kid, it seemed hard, but it’s really easy now.”

Tate aspires to teach elementary education and coach football,
so he knows the value of homework and priorities and working with
his kids.

“I’d really like to have more time to spend with
them and help out,” he said. “Especially, the two older
ones, they’re young, but they understand that I have to come
to school and I have to do my schoolwork. And they’re
actually excited that I’m still in school, and I know they
see me still going to school, and it makes it easier for them to
say, ‘This is what I got to do.’ ”

Pleasures and pain of parity
The Old Dominion is again shaping up as a conference defined by
the perception of parity, with four teams sitting undefeated after
Week 4. I say “perception” because until the teams
actually play one another, there are no certainties.

Emory and Henry, Hampden-Sydney and Randolph-Macon all stand at
4-0, with H-SC and R-MC having true signature wins under their
belts against Salisbury and Johns Hopkins, respectively.
Bridgewater, at 3-0, rounds out the ODAC’s undefeateds.

Why is parity good? It makes for an exciting and challenging
season for the players, coaches and fans. And the downside?
Conferences that beat themselves up in the regular season are
forced into poor seedings come playoff time. Just ask the
Washington and Lee, Hampden-Sydney and Randolph-Macon teams from
2006 to 2008. They were among the one-and-done teams of the past
four seasons for the ODAC. The low seedings led them into the
waiting jaws of teams like Mount Union and Wesley in Round 1
– the types of games that almost guarantee a loss for the
underdogs.

I appreciate parity. It makes for a meaningful season for a
larger swath of the conference rather than just the top team that
continues on in Week 12. There’s the greater uncertainty of
week-to-week play, giving more meaning to the notion of “any
given Saturday.” Emerging the top dog among relative equals
is a far greater prize than being superior among clear
inferiors.

And the threat of loss lingers. As an observer of the sport,
I’m fascinated to see how teams respond to loss and setback.
I feel it says a lot about the program if they can rebound. The
best teams in the country find a way to rebound. In the past six
Stagg Bowls, a quarter of the teams showed up there despite having
a regular-season blemish.

What will help a conference with high parity is performance in
its nonconference games. Don’t just focus on the success of
your team but also the success of those around you. For example,
E&H’s undefeated nonconference record would reflect well
on any conference opponent who happens to beat the Wasps down the
road.

The ODAC teams that are 4-0 did so with some impressive wins
over the weekend:

E&H didn’t let the injury of one of its top receivers
get them down as they spread out the ball against Methodist and
piled on 49 points for a lopsided win at home. It marked the first
time since the final game of the 2004 season, Lou Wacker’s
last as coach, that the Wasps scored that much.

H-SC drove 70 yards and scored with a little over a minute on
the clock to defeat previously unbeaten Salisbury 32-28. Tigers
quarterback Travis Lane had a banner day with 383 yards passing and
two touchdowns.

R-MC clobbered Frostburg State 48-14, with 45 of those points
coming in the first half. Wide receiver Earl Peoples, a 2009
All-American, found the end zone three times, including a 52-yard
punt return in the first quarter.

This coming weekend, E&H and R-MC square off, giving us
prime insight into the ODAC’s parity. Close games prove the
point of parity. A blowout could say a whole lot more and help
define which teams are truly in the running for a postseason NCAA
bid.

Wolverines claw toward victory
Wesley traveled nearly 500 miles to square off against a
traditionally tough OAC team. The Wolverines overcame penalty woes
(147 yards’ worth) and scored twice in the final five minutes
to pull away for a 42-21 win against Capital. Wesley quarterback
Justin Sottilare connected for 361 yards and four touchdowns on the
day – two of them going to Ellis Krout. The defense also
stepped in by forcing three turnovers. With Capital entering the
game at 1-1, this didn’t turn out to be the premier matchup
that many, including myself (see Kickoff 2010), had hoped. Still,
kudos to Capital for rising to the challenge of adding a team of
Wesley’s caliber to its schedule.

The blitz package
Muhlenberg mustered up some homecoming magic to snag an overtime
win against Gettysburg. Wideout Isaiah Vaughn topped the Mules with
57 receiving yards, which included a 25-yard touchdown grab for the
winning points.

Dickinson’s first win of the season became
McDaniel’s first loss. Starting at the close of the first
half, the Red Devils posted 20 unanswered points to pull away for a
41-16 win.

We’ve seen it before (many times) and will no doubt see it
again: N.C. Wesleyan starts the season 1-2. Pressure on the
quarterback was a big factor in a 35-24 win over LaGrange. The
Bishops had nine tackles for loss, including three sacks.

Contact me
I would be happy to hear from anyone who has questions or feedback
regarding the Around the Mid-Atlantic column or Division III
football in general. Please write to me at ryan.tipps@d3sports.com.
I’m sure that I missed some highlights in the region. I
invite you to talk about players and performances on the message
board’s Around the Mid-Atlantic thread. Additionally, if there
is an idea you’d like to see me write about, post it there or
email me.